Alan Hodgkinson, an England international, a Sheffield United legend and a goalkeeping guru died on Tuesday at the age of 79, but his glove-print will always remain on modern football.

Hodgkinson was an innovator and a pioneer as Britain's first specialist coach for goalkeepers, who nurtured the talents of Peter Schmeichel, Neville Southall and Andy Goram, among many others.

He retired from his coaching role at Oxford United three years ago, by which time he had been involved in the professional game through seven decades from the 50s when Sheffield United bought him from Worksop Town for £250.

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Hodgkinson became a one-club man of nearly 700 appearances and won five England caps at a time when there were lots of alternatives. At the World Cup in Chile in 1962, he was understudy to Ron Springett in the days before substitutes and found himself sat in the stands watching one game with Pele.

He would return to the World Cup twice as part of Scotland's coaching team in the 90s having been charged with rescuing the battered reputation of goalkeepers north of the border, where he created a brand new technical coaching programme from scratch for the Scottish FA which forms the basis of much work still done today.

When he went with the squad to meet the Queen, she remarked that he didn't sound very Scottish. 'No Ma'am, I work for whoever pays me,' smiled the Yorkshireman.

Hodgkinson poses for a picture with Sportsmail photographer Graham Chadwick in 2012

Hodgkinson talks with former Rangers goalkeeper Stefan Klos during training at the Scottish club

The goalkeeper shows his agility while training in the snow with Sheffield United

It had been his wife Brenda who urged him to follow his instinct and launch his own business as a goalkeeping 'coach and consultant'.

When he wrote to every club in the country to ask if they were interested in his idea he was overwhelmed by the response.

He would travel the country from his Warwickshire home visiting different teams, spent years working with Sir Alex Ferguson's 'keepers and convinced him to sign Schmeichel. He received an MBE for his services to football in 2008.

Hodgkinson had trained his own reflexes by bouncing balls off the heavy roller by the pavilion at Bramall Lane, in the days when Yorkshire CCC still played at the venue, and was sure he could teach others.

It turned out he could. Goram tweeted a message last night to say: 'He was my guru and a father to me. A legend. Thoughts with you Brenda.' His message will echo around football, not least at Bramall Lane.

Hodgy was a gentleman, a goalkeeper and a coach.

Hodgkinson - pictured here playing for Sheffield United in 1971 - made nearly 700 club appearances